Thursday, May 15, 2008

Monica Burns is from the USA and is an MTV (Medium Term Volunteer) on Concordia's UK programme. She is volunteering at the YMCA's Fairthorne Wood project in Southampton and is co-ordinating 4 projects during the summer. Here is her account of the first project at Fairthrone wood:

CONCUK02 Fairthorne Wood project

This is my first time ever volunteering abroad, and to be coordinating not one, but four projects over the next 5 months seems quite a daunting task. But, for my first project at the YMCA Fairthorne Manor, I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work alongside some great volunteers. The group of seven ladies and one gent were very hard workers and crossed the cultural barriers to get to know each other a little better. They came from Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Korea, and Russia. Many questions were asked, many foods shared, many new games learned, and many, many laughs were laughed.

Our environmental project involved clearing a bit of overgrown land to create a woodland garden for the children to romp through. Take a look at our before and after pics.

We completed this garden a bit faster than anticipated, so we were given another task. We built wigwam for the nursery children to have class in when the weather was a bit damp. Check out the pics from the volunteers!

I've got three more projects this summer at the YMCA. I can't wait for the next group of volunteers to come!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Linden Farrer is in Romania on an EVS project. He is going to be there for 12 months. This is his first account of life as an EVS volunteer in Romania:

I've been in Romania now for just over a month – and I can't believe how much I have done already. It's May the 1st – a national holiday here – and I now have some time to write something.

The project I am volunteering for is based in the city of Oradea. It's a city on the border of Hungary, a couple of hours drive from Transyvania plus the cities of Sibiu, and Cluj Napoca. Although it's about the same size as Brighton, it has a completely different feel – far less nightlife, but a really good public transport system, lots of parks, and quite a relaxed and laid-back feel to it. I already feel I know my way confidently around the city, and am looking forward to discovering some of the more hidden away places that I have heard about, and see some local bands.

I am working with a team of volunteers from quite a range of countries: Georgia, Albania, Portugal, Austria and Denmark. Because I am staying for a year, I am involved in more than one project, but the main one that I am working with the others on is quite enough as it is. In just less than a week about 18 other volunteers arrive from all over Europe to begin archaeological digging at the local 'citadel' (fortress) for a month; they will be followed by three other groups of the same size, with the last digging volunteers going home at the end of August. Our longer-term team has to coordinate activities for them, and make sure that they have everything they need to survive for their month's stay.

In between planning sessions, and securing accommodation, we have been organising visas, debates in schools about the citadel, a sports day, and a whole range of other activities that are supposed to attract the attention of a total of 20,000 people. It seems ambitious at the moment, but at least we are busy. On top of this we have Romanian language lessons out of work time plus the homework. Although most of us like the challenge of learning a new language – and Romanians are really understanding of mistakes – it would be nicer to be able to get by on a survival basis from the start because it is harder to meet people when you cannot speak a word. Nevertheless, it's a personal challenge to see how far I can go (from zero knowledge) in one year!

In addition to settling into life here, our team visited the region of Maramureş which borders the Ukraine in the north of the country. Here we got the chance to see some spectacular scenery, stay at a local guesthouse and eat a farmers breakfast and dinner (accompanied, as all meals are there, with the locallydistilled palinka), and visit monasteries and the harrowing prison at Sighet where opponents of the communist regime were kept out of public sight. I've also had the opportunity to travel to Craiova in the south of the country to visit some people I met last year while on holiday, and as a group we plan more visits to other nearby cities in the next couple of months.

With our main project hitting the ground (running or not) in less than a week I think the next month will bring lots more experiences and be lots more fun. I'll try and write more then.

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About Concordia

Concordia is a charity committed to international volunteering as a means to promoting intercultural understanding and peace.

Our International Volunteer Programme offers volunteers aged 18+ the opportunity to join international teams of volunteers working on short-term projects in over 60 countries in Europe, North America, Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Asia. A selection of projects is available for teenagers aged 16 and 17. Types of international volunteer projects include conservation, restoration, archaeology, construction, arts, children’s play-schemes and teaching.

Projects last for 2-4 weeks with the main season from June to September. Volunteers pay a registration fee of £225-250 and fund their own travel and insurance.

Board and accommodation is free of charge for projects in Europe, North America, Japan and South Korea. For projects in Latin America, Asia, Middle East and Africa volunteer pay an extra on arrival fee of approx. £200 that covers food and accommodation, as well as funding the programme in the country.
www.concordiavolunteers.org.uk